Deer

In the valley, Deer shift from a contingency in the hunting party’s dwindling winter stores to a readily available source of food as the snow melts. Their reappearance marks a seasonal change in the landscape and a practical contrast with the American bison that Miller has relentlessly hunted.

Winter Scarcity and a Food Alternative

After the blizzard, Miller finds no American bison: the herd appears to have left before snow closed the pass. With little meat remaining, spoiled flour, and only one sack of beans, he proposes hunting Deer the next day; if the weather worsens, the men can fish through a hole in the frozen lake. Deer enter the party’s plan as a fallback in a precarious winter food supply, not as a new commercial quarry.

Return with the Spring Thaw

Between late March and early April, the snow gradually recedes, and Deer become more numerous in the valley. They feed on the fresh grass and sometimes approach within a few hundred yards of camp. A noise makes them raise their heads and hold their bodies ready to flee; when it does not recur, they return to grazing, their tawny necks bent in delicate curves over the grass. Their wary behavior sets them apart from the hunting party’s easy access to the valley’s game, even as their proximity makes them a dependable resource.

Miller no longer needs to range through the forest. Carrying William Andrews’s small automatic rifle, he takes the game the men need from only a short distance from camp. Deer are part of a wider spring abundance that also includes mountain quail and elk. The men eat their fill of venison and other game, while food they cannot consume spoils in the growing warmth. The valley’s renewed productivity thus relieves hunger, but it does not become a reason for Miller to leave: the party remains there as the snowbound route slowly opens.

Venison on the Return Journey

Deer meat continues to sustain the men as they descend from the mountains. During a midday rest, Charley Hoge cuts a long strip of smoked venison into equal portions and distributes it among them. The meal makes the strain of the journey tangible: exhausted and nauseated, Andrews initially cannot eat, and his gums throb after the party’s long diet of game. He eventually forces down the tough meat. Venison is therefore not only a seasonal provision in the valley but also part of the food that carries the weakened party onto the return route.

Narrative Significance

The Deer’s changing presence gives the valley a seasonal rhythm distinct from the story of commercial bison hunting. In winter they are imagined as possible prey amid shortage; in spring they appear as living, grazing animals in a landscape renewing itself. Their abundance answers an immediate need, while the contrast with the vanished bison makes clear that the party’s food supply depends on a broader environment than Miller’s chosen quarry. Deer support survival and departure, but their return does not erase the consequences of the hunt that has kept the men in the valley.